A review by jbmorgan86
But What If We're Wrong? Thinking About the Present As If It Were the Past by Chuck Klosterman
5.0
I rarely give 5 stars, but this one definitely deserves it. This is one of my favorite books I’ve read in awhile. Klosterman is quickly becoming one of my favorite non-fiction writers.
The premise of this book is that we could possibly wrong about . . . well, just about anything. Klosterman looks at history, politics, music, sports, science, etc. Therefore, we should be less certain about the present and try to think about present if it were the past. Sure, we think of Elvis and the Beatles as being the ultimate representatives of rock music. But what will people 500 years from now think? Will they even remember rock music? We consider Moby Dick a classic now, but it was hated by Melville’s contemporaries. Who is going to be remembered as the best author of our age? Chances are we have no idea who the person is. Someone hundreds of years from now will identify them and say they are representative of our era. 1000 years ago, philosophers were certain about the makeup of the universe. They were wrong. What could we be wrong about?
Funny, thought provoking, and a quick read. Well done.
The premise of this book is that we could possibly wrong about . . . well, just about anything. Klosterman looks at history, politics, music, sports, science, etc. Therefore, we should be less certain about the present and try to think about present if it were the past. Sure, we think of Elvis and the Beatles as being the ultimate representatives of rock music. But what will people 500 years from now think? Will they even remember rock music? We consider Moby Dick a classic now, but it was hated by Melville’s contemporaries. Who is going to be remembered as the best author of our age? Chances are we have no idea who the person is. Someone hundreds of years from now will identify them and say they are representative of our era. 1000 years ago, philosophers were certain about the makeup of the universe. They were wrong. What could we be wrong about?
Funny, thought provoking, and a quick read. Well done.